"What do you want to be when you grow up?" This question is asked so often. Without a clear and informed answer, the question feels overwhelming and stress-inducing. It’s a hard question to figure out, but students feel pressure to have a great answer before any experience or career exposure.

It just doesn’t make sense. As the former Professor of Education and Psychology at Stanford University, John D. Krumboltz stated, "Asking teens to pick a job title that they have never tried out is like asking them to name a future spouse before allowing them to date."

This idea that teenagers must have their entire lives mapped out is misguided. A Stanford baseball player and now successful social media influencer, Sahil Bloom, once stated a harsh truth: “You'll literally never know what you want to be when you grow up. I spent years stressing out over my lack of a clearly defined path. But then I realized that most hyper-successful people still have no idea what they want to do. They just have a bias for action that has allowed them to capitalize on opportunities and compound effectively over time. If you have a bias for action, you'll always be fine.”

This is where career planning can be transformative for students. Instead of anxiously deliberating over which career to choose, graduating students can take action.

Here are some reasons why integrating career planning into the high school curriculum is so far-reaching:

Reduced Anxiety and Stress

Students’ anxiety comes from inaction or a lack of experience. It comes from the feeling that they need to figure out what they want to do, even without sufficient information and awareness. When asked what they want to do, the less perspective and experience students have, the more anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed they feel.

Career planning gives students direction and motivation for taking action, leading to reduced stress and anxiety. It provides a roadmap to navigate their post-graduation pathway.

Additionally, research has shown that people who work in careers aligned with their personal interests and values tend to have higher job satisfaction and overall well-being. Career happiness and a sense of satisfaction are underappreciated aspects of the mental health crisis.

Increased Self-Awareness

Career planning helps students build self-awareness and a clear map of their interests. It helps identify their core values and strengths as a starting point in their career journey. After career planning, students will have a broader perspective of what careers are possible. More self-awareness means being more informed. The more informed, the more confident the students are in their career decision-making.

Career planning also forces students to be more intentional about their post-graduation career decisions, instead of taking on debt and assuming things will be figured out. College should not be an assumed destination. What should come first is self-reflection to identify interests and then explore related careers, pathways, and requirements. Only then should students decide if college is right for their path.

Expanded Perspective

Career planning helps students see that it's okay to have multiple interests and that their interests can be combined. Students feel less pressured because they recognize that instead of having to choose one, there are multiple pathways they can pursue within their interests.

As education entrepreneur Ana Lorena Fabrega wisely states, "it's ok to rethink your chosen line of work and switch gears when necessary."

Our students can also testify to this. Here is some of the feedback they have provided:

“One of the biggest things it helped me understand was that it was ok to have multiple interests because there are many different ways that you can have a happy and purposeful life that serves those around you.”

“My experience helped me realize many of my interests can be found in different jobs or organizations.”

“It helped me shift my mindset from one that feared the future and had an idea that there were not many paths to choose from or freedom within certain decisions, to viewing it as an ever-changing concept with multiple opportunities and multiple jobs that can be fulfilling.”

Cultivated Skills with Clarity on Interests

Career planning can lead students to focus on building skills relevant to their interests rather than a more general education. The more skills students develop, the greater options they have because they can apply these skills in various roles and industries. Students can see how their skills are transferable, reducing the pressure that they need to be on the right path.

At top schools, it’s increasingly becoming more important for students to identify and validate their interests through extracurriculars showcased in their essays. This means students need to have a sense of their interests and direction earlier so they can take action to develop related experience, skills, and knowledge towards their interests.

One student said, “Crucial to the college application process is creating your own personal narrative, depicted through your extracurriculars, essays, and the corresponding major you apply for.”

Students can then purposefully develop relevant skills, making them more hireable and adaptable to evolving job markets down the line. These applied skills provide a robust foundation for future success.

Wider Range of Career Possibilities

Career planning encourages students to actively seek out experiences like job shadowing, internships, and informational interviews. This exposes them to a wide range of career possibilities they may have never considered, broadening their perspective.

It also encourages students to network and talk to professionals working in their areas of interest. Through informational interviews, students can learn practical career advice. They can also hear how it’s okay if you don’t have it figured out. It’s ok to change your mind or pivot. Many people change careers multiple times.

They’ll see how they won’t be stuck if they start off on the wrong path. Establishing professional relationships early on can open doors to job opportunities, mentorships, and internships. It also teaches students interpersonal and social skills.

Conclusion

The high school years lay the critical foundation for students' future paths. The earlier students start career planning, the more time they have to explore and experiment. This exploration can help refine students’ career goals. The sooner they can try things out, get experience, and broaden their exposure, the longer their runway is to experiment and see what they like and don’t like. They feel less stressed and more confident because they have more experience to draw from and guide their decisions. Their clarity evolves as they get more experience, exposure, and perspective.

By prioritizing career planning during this formative stage, educators can empower young people to thoughtfully explore possibilities, identify their unique interests, and ultimately find purposeful careers they may have never discovered otherwise. It transforms an overwhelming guessing game into an exciting process of continual growth and self-discovery.